Teachers at 2nd HISD school face firing in cheating probe

Five HISD teachers face firing in connection with an investigation into test cheating at Jefferson Elementary School, the district announced Wednesday.

The findings follow a district announcement in April that three teachers at Atherton Elementary were set to be fired after a similar investigation by the same law firm concluded they had helped fifth-graders cheat on state exams last school year.

Questions about the test scores had loomed for months. The Houston Independent School District announced in November that the district had hired an outside law firm to investigate possible cheating and, during the probe, it removed 16 current or former teachers from classrooms at Jefferson and four teachers from Atherton. The removal of so many teachers was rare. Jefferson had more than one third of its teaching staff reassigned.

“We take these findings very seriously. It is imperative that we have access to reliable and unbiased test results, as testing helps the district measure the degree to which students are learning,” Grier said in a statement Wednesday. “We will continue our investigation and the other teachers will remain reassigned until the investigation concludes.”

Houston attorney Chris Tritico said three Jefferson teachers he represents received notice from HISD that they were being recommended to the school board for termination.

“I am absolutely unconvinced that anything wrong happened at Jefferson other than a whole bunch of teachers working very diligently,” Tritico said.

The Houston Chronicle has reported that 100 percent of English-speaking third-graders at Jefferson Elementary passed state exams last year in reading and math, results that ranked the school far ahead of others. A state analysis of testing materials from Atherton found an unusual number of erasure marks changing answers from wrong to right.

James Fallon, an attorney representing two Jefferson teachers facing termination, said the district relied on evidence from students who may have been confused about practice tests or tutorial sessions.

“I have no doubt about their innocence,” Fallon said. “They’re very intelligent educators who worked very very hard with very specific goals in mind as they worked.” — ERICKA MELLON